Venice Film Festival Still On Schedule

The Venice Film Festival will go ahead as planned this fall, despite the Coronavirus outbreak.

Luca Zaia, governor of Veneto, confirmed on Sunday that the world’s longest-running film festival is still due to take place from September 2 to 12.

The confirmation comes days after the Venice Biennale rescheduled its Biennale of Architecture to 2021, however, it is still on schedule for its film festival’s fall dates.

Zaia revealed that the Biennale of Architecture was postponed due to complications in constructing the necessary pavilions, however, the film festival will proceed, but warns that there will likely be fewer films this year.

In January, the festival named that Hollywood star Cate Blanchett as the jury president.

Moreover, Italy, which was among the hardest to borne the brunt of the virus in Europe, has slowly come out of lockdown in recent weeks. The country is set to reopen its borders for European travelers on June 3, forgoing mandatory quarantine restrictions for inbound travel.

[caption id="attachment_128722" align="aligncenter" width="681"] Cate Blanchett - Jury Head of Venice Film Festival[/caption]

Youtube to host free film festival showcasing Venice, other festivals

With coronavirus shutting dozens of film festivals worldwide, YouTube decided to launch a 10-day digital film festival this spring with 20 partners — streaming free to cinema lovers worldwide.

The event, titled “We Are One: A Global Film Festival”, is being produced and organized by New York’s Tribeca Enterprises.

The festival is slated to run from May 29-June 7, 2020, and will be available on YouTube and we are one website, which will not include any ads.

The programming slate has not yet been announced, however, it will consist of feature films, shorts, documentaries, music, comedy, and panel discussions.

The programming arrives in partnership with 20 top film festivals including the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, and Venice Film Festival.

We Are One is also partnered with Annecy International Animation Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Guadalajara International Film Festival, International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM), Jerusalem Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI), Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Marrakech International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, San Sebastian International Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, and Tokyo International Film Festival.

The festival organizers are not identifying specific films expected to be screened in the We Are One fest, however, they revealed that the full schedule will be available in the coming weeks.

Viewers will be asked to make donations for COVID-19 relief, which YouTube and Tribeca stated that will be allocated for the benefit of the World Health Organization and local organizations globally.

Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal, founders of Tribeca, hopes that the online event unites curators, artists, and storytellers to entertain and provide relief to audiences worldwide.

It is worth mentioning that the novel coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, China, and has infected more than one million people and killed over 234,139 worldwide. It also hit a number of celebrities and top political figures around the world.

On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus a global pandemic as the new virus has rapidly spread to more than 800,000 people from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.

Transmission of viruses between humans happens when someone comes into contact with an infected person’s secretions, such as droplets in a cough.

Coronavirus can also be transmitted by coming into contact with something an infected person has touched and then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.

It is known that older people appear to be more vulnerable to the effects of the emerging virus.

The virus caused complete paralysis in all activities and events with large gatherings worldwide due to concerns over the spread of the virus.

Furthermore, countries have tightened restrictions on movement and travel, to curb the spread of the Coronavirus, and some have pledged billions of dollars in economic stimulus programs to reduce the economic repercussions of the crisis.